Home Owners Try to Score Super Bowl Dough

Home Owners Try to Score Super Bowl Dough

Daily Real Estate News |
Tuesday, December 31, 2013

About 400,000 people are expected to flock to Northern New Jersey on Feb. 2 for Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium, and hotels are already raising their prices by 10 times or more their normal rates for those who plan to attend the game.

But nearby home owners are hoping they can earn some extra cash, too: They’re advertising lodgings that are some of the most expensive ever for a Super Bowl, Reuters reports.

"There's a lot of hotels, businesses, and commercial real estate owners who are cashing in on this event and taking the opportunity to make a buck. So, why wouldn't Joe Home Owner give it a shot?" says Bill Ryan, managing director of Super-Bowl-Rentalz.com, a site launched last year to connect Super Bowl attendees with short-term rentals.

Home owners and apartment dwellers in New Jersey and New York have listed their private residences as short-term rentals on websites such as HomeAway, Craigslist, Airbnb, and others to hook Super Bowl fans. Some home owners are charging anywhere from $750 a night for a small studio apartment to $10,000 a night for a mansion.

Some are trying to lure high-end guests by throwing in incentives such as chauffeurs, stocked bars, and gift certificates for dinner or a massage.

One 5,700-square-foot home in Saddle Brook, N.J., is listed for $35,000 for the week. It includes four bedrooms, four baths, an in-home gym, and daily maid service.

Renting out a residence for a few days during Super Bowl means “paying bills and paying off debt,” says Garrett Larson, who is trying to rent out his two-bedroom townhome in Montclair, N.J. In a Craigslist ad, Larson is asking $8,000 for six nights and advertises his home as "15 minutes to stadium and all the dining and nightlife of northern New Jersey."